


Hot Summer Nights and Hot Camp Counselors

by teenbeachstan



Category: ATLAB - Fandom, Avatar the Last Airbender - Fandom
Genre: Eventual Smut, First Kiss, Modern AU, More tags might be added, Mutual Pining, No Bending, Past Sokka/Suki - Freeform, Summer Camp AU, background kataang, first fic feel free to roast me, i take criticism, idiots crushing on each other but they’re too caught up in their “rivalry” to notice, kind of because im impatient so who knows, maybe smut, no beta we die like men, rivals/frenemies to lovers tease, sexual tension probably, slowburn, sprinkle of angst, unless its back bending, yeah probably smut, zukka rights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26113585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenbeachstan/pseuds/teenbeachstan
Summary: When Sokka gets dragged to work at Camp Jasmine Dragon for the summer, will he find love? Or will it all go down in flames?—-Zuko has worked at his Uncle’s summer camp ever since he was 16. After 3 years of normal camp antics, this summer things change. But will it be for better, or for worse?
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko, kataang
Comments: 10
Kudos: 114





	1. Strangers?

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy ‼️‼️ first chapter lets jump in vroom vroom

Originally, Sokka didn’t want to work as a camp counselor at some random summer camp. He’d rather spend his summer laying around and being carefree- but no, Toph had to talk he and his friends into working at some old guy’s summer camp for almost 3 whole months.

Sokka groaned obnoxiously. Even though he was bored out of his mind, he was glad that Aang had volunteered to drive so that he could peacefully complain in the back seat without having to worry about keeping his eyes on the road. 

Katara rolled her eyes. “Sokka, we’ve only been driving for an hour. The camp is literally a few minutes away.”  
His younger sister was in the front seat next to Aang, which Sokka was sure she only got because she was the drivers girlfriend- Sokka had called shotgun 3 days before their trip, but not a single protest came out of his friends mouth when Katara smugly slipped into the passenger.

“I’m just getting all of my complaining out of the way so I’m not doing it for the entire summer.” He let his mouth droop into a exaggerated frown and looked out the window.  
It was Toph’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh shut it Snoozles,” She landed a punch in Sokka’s arm, eliciting a loud _“Ow!”._ “We’re almost there. And trust me, you will _not_ be bored this summer.”

Sokka raised a curious eyebrow at that, but decided not to comment. When Toph was up to something, it was best not to interfere and just hang on for the ride.

He let out a weak grunt and let his head lean against the window. Just as he started to drift off to a very much wanted nap, the car lurched to a stop. Aang turned his neck in a way that you think would be uncomfortable, and shot a big smile at Sokka.  
“We’re here!”

They all stepped out of the now parked car and started to unload. As Aang struggled to hold Katara’s bags (which she was much against, insisting she could handle them herself), Sokka looked up at the big, well crafted sign that stood a good amount of feet among his head.

“Camp Jasmine Dragon, huh? Weird name for a summer camp.”

A deep, hearty laugh erupted not far from him. “Yes, it might be strange indeed. But I think that strangeness gives it character, dont you think?”

Sokka turned in surprise to the owner of the voice, and was met with an old man who had a kind face and a long, gray, beard.  
Before he could respond to the old man’s question, Aang ran to his rescue.  
“Hi! I’m Aang and thats Sokka. You must be the boss.”

‘The Boss’ as Aang referred to him as, let out yet another hearty chuckle. “Please, you can call me Iroh.” He waves his hand dismissively. “Do any of you need to help with your bags? I can call over my nephew to assist you.”  
Sokka shook his head vigorously, not wanting to further his already bad impression on his new boss. He dramatically puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips. “No sir, we’re fine here!” 

With that answer, Iroh walked away from them and towards a large cabin.

“Good going Sokka,” It was Toph, and she punched his shoulder yet again, eliciting another _”Ow!”._ “You must have forgotten that you have a blind girl with you and we could have used those extra hands.” She said, motioning to herself but also Katara and Aang.  
“Just because you cant see doesnt mean you cant carry anything,” He said, still reaching for her things anyway. 

“Oh, I know I can carry them. I’d just rather if you did it.” That made Sokka grumble in response, to which she let out a shriek of purposefully-evil laughter.

Once they had finally gotten all of their things together, they headed towards the large cabin that Iroh had gone to minutes before. Toph told them that this is where meetings were held, along with where they slept.

Aang and Katara chose to room together, which was expected, while Sokka chose the room at the end of the hall next to the bathroom. Hey, what could he say? Katara liked to take forever in the bathroom, and if he gets there first, he doesnt have to worry about being late for anything. Toph went to the room at the other end of the hall, to room with Suki, he assumed, since she texted him earlier that she would be working at the summer camp too. Sokka wouldn’t have minded if he had gotten to room with her, even though they had dated 3 years ago. It surprisingly didn’t put a damper on their friendship, if anything, it made it stronger.

Once he stepped into his new and soon to be improved _chambers_ , he looked around and saw another bed on the other side of the room.

The room was obviously lived in, with the bed sheets crumpled and little articles of clothing strewn about on the floor. Other than that, the room was mostly clean. 

While he got lost in his thoughts about who  
his roommate was, he was blissfully unaware of the footsteps approaching him as he bent down to examine a sweatshirt that was lying on the floor.

“What are you doing looking around in my room?” A rough voice demanded from right above him.

Sokka’s eyes went wide and his cheeks felt warm. Way too quickly, he stood up to look at who had just spoken to him- well not spoken, but demanded something of him.

This sudden movement led him him to collide his head with the other boy’s chin, which made him let out a hiss of pain.

_‘Holy shit’_ he thought to himself.  
Well maybe not thought. Those words definitely just came out of his mouth. Half of the reason was because _Holy shit_ he just hurt some random guy, and the other half was because _Holy shit_ this guy who he had hurt was extremely attractive.

He had a sharp jawline and pale skin, though half of it was scarred by red, angry looking tissue. His shaggy black hair was a little long in the back, and his bangs fell just below his brows. As Sokka’s eyes traced over Hot guy’s appearance, he spotted the red outline of what looked like a dragon on his very _defined_ forearm. To be honest, he usually didn’t go after the emo type, but damn, maybe this guy could change that.

After letting himself stare for probably way too long, he ran to hot guy’s aid.

“Spirits, are you okay? I’m so sorry, I just wasn’t expecting-“

The boy opened his golden-brown eyes and furrowed his brows, showing a look of distaste. “Well, I wasnt expecting some stranger to be looking around in my room but here we are.” He spat. 

Sokka rushed to defend himself. “I wasn’t looking around in your room! I just saw the door was open, so I just-“

“Decided to invade my privacy?” He poked a finger at Sokka’s chest. 

Exasperated, he threw up his arms. “Look dude, I’m sorry okay? I was just curious about who my roommate was going to be. There’s no need to be an asshole about it.”

Hot asshole raised an eyebrow at that. For a moment, his face of anger was washed over with confusion. “Roommate?”

Before Sokka could respond, yet again, Aang came to his rescue.

Popping his head into the room, he gave a small wave. “Hey Sokka and guy I don’t know,” He said, glancing between the two boys. “Iroh just called for us to meet the in the main hall, so just finish what you guys are doing and then run over there.” 

Just as quick as he had come, he sped out. The other boy looked a little dumbfounded at Aangs antics, but instead of saying anything about it, he let out a disgruntled sigh. 

“Look,” he said, folding his arms. “I don’t know who you are or why you think we’re roommates, but we’re not. Find another room.”

Man, this guy was definitely a looker, but he washed away any and all attraction Sokka had to him with that foul attitude.

Well, maybe Hot asshole’s attitude washing away _all_ of his attraction to him was a stretch.

Now it was Sokka’s turn to fold his arms. “Listen here, buddy.” His words dripped with sarcasm. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are no other rooms for me to go to. I’d switch with Toph, but she’s probably already rooming with Suki, and I’d doubt that she’d want to switch with me for a jerk like you.” 

He didn’t want to hear what snarky response the other boy had to retort with, so he swiftly walked out of the room and towards the main hall. Sokka forced himself not to take another look back at Hot asshole, even though he could feel his sharp gaze burning holes in the back of head. 

Once he reached the main hall, he left out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding (cliche, right?). Before he could clear his face of any anger left over from him and Hot asshole’s conversation, if you could call it that, Katara caught it. 

She was quickly at his side, with a concerned look on her face. “Sokka, what happened? I heard yelling.”

While usually he was grateful for his sister’s motherly-ness, now was not one of those times. Nonetheless, he let go of the tension in his fists and sighed. “Nothing really happened,” He decided to try and downplay it, but the aggravation still seeped into his words. “I was just having a conversation with some asshole who happens to be the guy I’m rooming with. No big deal.”

This made his sister scoff. “Well, it sounds like a big deal to me.”

Before she could continue questioning him, Iroh cleared his throat. “Good evening, everyone. I’m sure some of you already know my nephew, Zuko.” Sokka looked to the boy who was awkwardly shuffling at Iroh’s side who was- Hot asshole from earlier?!

Zuko made an attempt at a smile. “Hello, Zuko here.” Sokka could see the boy cringe at his own introduction.

He pointedly looked right at Zuko with his mouth agape. The other boy caught sight of this, and his once small smile turned into a frown. The eye contact they made felt like it lasted forever, when in reality it was only a few seconds. Zuko was the first to look away, coughing into his fist.

“He and Toph will be here to help any of you get accustomed to how things work around here.” The old man smiled warmly. “The rules and other important events will be posted to the wall behind me. If you need anything, feel free to come talk to me in my office.” Iroh then waved them all off, and walked towards his previously mentioned office.

Sokka let out a groan. Not only was he rooming with his boss’ nephew, but his nephew was also an asshole. 

Then, his mind began to wander. Of course, Zuko was snarky and fiery, but he was also easy on the eyes. Sokka thought about how they would be sleeping in the same room. Then he thought about how they would probably change in the same room. He thought of Zuko’s eyes watching him as he undressed, eyes trailing over his body-

Sokka felt his cheeks burn. _No, no, NO._ He shook his head vigorously, trying to get rid of these.. thoughts. _Definitely not thinking about that. Nope. Never. He’s infuriating and annoying and.._

Before he could finish his mental list of reasons why he should dislike Zuko, Aang tapped on his shoulder. “Hey Sokka, I know you’re totally lost in thought right now,” _Thanks for noticing, Aang._ “But I just thought that I’d let you know that the kids we’re going to be 'counseling' wont arrive for a day or two.”

Sokka let a small smile make its way onto his face, trying to not get stuck in his bad mood. Sure, he was still pissed, but there was no reason to be mad at _Aang_. “Thanks for letting me know dude. I kinda zoned out there.” 

The younger boy smiled proudly. “No problem, future brother in law!”

“Brother in law? Don’t tell me you’re planning on proposing to Katara while we’re spending the summer here.” He teased.

Aang blushed furiously and put his hands up in defense. “No not at all! I was just joking! I-I would never propose to Katara at a summer camp- not that I plan on proposing any time soon! I mean..”

He placed a hand on his red faced friend’s shoulder. “I get it Aang, you don’t have to explain.” Sokka wiggled his eyebrows at him, making him blush harder. “I’m gonna go unpack in my room, since I was.." He thought back to his argument with Zuko. "..interrupted, earlier.” 

Aang nodded quickly, and with that, Sokka headed back to his room. Well, his shared room. He was really hoping that Zuko wasn’t there yet- he wanted to avoid that guy for as long as he could.

He let out a breath of relief when he entered the room and found it free of of Zuko. For some odd reason, he felt a small pang of disappointment, but he pushed it down.

Sokka unpacked his navy blue duffel bag, and put his clothes into the small dresser pushed against the wall. He brought few casual clothes, since majority of the time he’d be wearing his blue ‘Camp Jasmine Dragon’ polo with his own choice of pants.

It was getting late, so he decided to go take a shower. But as he went to open the door, someone else opened it before him. The steam from what seemed to be an extremely hot shower hit his face, and a half naked Zuko with a towel wrapped around his waist stepped out. Sokka couldn’t help but stare at the other boy’s naked torso- going from his waist, to his chest, to his arms, to his shoulders. When he reached his face, Sokka already knew he’d been caught. He watched Zuko’s ears turn red, feeling a little proud that he made the jerk blush.

Instead of making any remarks about catching Sokka checking him out, Zuko dropped his head to look at the floor and stormed towards their room. He decided not to think too hard on it, and stepped into the now aired out bathroom.

When he finished showering and walked back towards his room, Sokka braced himself for an argument, maybe for the other boy to tell him to find another room again, but he unexpectedly found Zuko reading on his bed, back against propped up pillows. Sokka found the scene oddly peaceful- Hot asshole (yes, he was still going to call him that) obviously hadn’t noticed him yet. 

Somehow, he tripped on what seemed like air, ruining the tranquility of the scene before him. Zuko snapped his book shut and watched Sokka almost fall face first onto the floor. Gladly, he caught himself. 

Sokka decided not to make any sarcastic remarks about the other boy not helping him- at least, not out loud. He instead walked over to Zuko’s bed, trying to get a closer look at the book he had been reading.

“Whatcha reading?”

Zuko’s eyebrows shot up, seemingly surprised that he was actually asking him a question. “Well, uh, It’s poetry.” When he noticed Sokka still staring at him, he cleared his throat and continued. “My favorites are by Ono no Komachi..?” That last part came out more like a question than a statement.

Sokka let out an excited whoop, which made the other boy flinch in surprise. “I love poetry! Especially Haikus. Ahem,” He dramatically cleared his throat. “Squish, squash, sling that slang. I’m always back at ya, like my... boomerang!” 

He bowed while Zuko let out a sharp snort paired with an eye roll. “Was that supposed to be a Haiku?”

Sokka let out an offended noise. “Of course it was! Count it on your fingers, dummy.”

Hot-not-much-of-an-asshole-at-the-moment- rolled his eyes _again_. He decided that this meant he had to grace Zuko yet again with another Haiku performed by the amazing Sokka.

He repeated his actions from earlier, dramatically clearing his throat. “That’s right, I’m Sokka, it’s pronounced with an ‘okka’, young man, I rocked ya!”

Zuko shot him a pointed look and raised his brow. “I’m pretty sure that last line had too many syllables.”

He groaned and slumped his shoulders. “Ugh, that sucks. I was on a roll!”

This made the other boy shake his head, and open his book again. Sokka, now deflated, was disappointed that he had lost Zuko’s interest. 

Trying to salvage their conversation, he decided to ask another question. “So.. wanna tell me your favorite poem out of that book?”

This was apparently not the right question to ask, he learned, because Zuko then became more shut off than before. “That’s none of your business.”

Sokka didn’t really like what had just happened- they were having a normal, even friendly, conversation, and then suddenly a switch was flipped. He was back to being irritable and closed off Lord Jerko, which Sokka didn’t think of too fondly.

He held his hands firm at his sides, and straightened his posture. “Whatever, I don’t really care that much anyway.”

But as Sokka settled into his bed, his eyes plunged into darkness, sparing Zuko’s lamp, he knew that he did care. He cared way too much for his liking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ik theres a couple mistakes but plz bare with me LOL


	2. Splash!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the kudos on last chapter!! i wanna give you kisses ;33 also Yes switching perspectives this chapter hope u can keep up!

When Zuko woke up in the morning, he looked outside of his window and supposed that his Uncle was right when he said that Zuko “rose with the sun.”

Stretching out his limbs in bed, he looked over to see Sokka still fast asleep, snoring loudly. He took this as his cue to get dressed. He slipped off his clothes and dressed himself, way too aware of the sleeping boy not far from him. He started to slip his clothes on at a faster pace when the thought of Sokka waking up and watching him get dressed popped into his head. His face was already feeling warm, but he decided to blame it on the heat.

The kids who would be spending the summer at the camp wouldn’t be arriving until tomorrow, so he still had time to somewhat relax before his head was filled with the hell bringing screams of children. Trying to push away the thoughts of the groups of kids he would be stuck with all summer, Zuko walked out of his room and towards the dining hall for some breakfast and tea. 

When he arrived, he saw Toph sitting at a table with a bald kid and a girl who looked almost like the girl version of sokka. Toph waved to him, beckoning him to come sit at their table. He didn’t really know how she had noticed him come in, but instead of questioning it, he grabbed his food and walked over to sit with them. Girl Sokka shot him a glare, the complete opposite of the blinding smile that the bald kid was giving him. 

“Hey Sparky.” She chirped, surprisingly upbeat for this early in the morning. “These are my friends.“ She motioned her hands in their general direction. “The spazz is Aang, and this is Katara. This is their first summer working here.” 

Zuko attempted to send half hearted smiles their way, but Katara just scowled. Aang took this as an opportunity to start up conversation.

“Hey Zuko, I can see you’re already pretty friendly with Sokka- Ow!” He rubbed a spot on his leg, which Zuko guessed had been kicked by the girl next to him. Aang decided to ignore this supposed warning. “This is Sokkas sister and my girlfriend, Katara. She’s really nice, once she warms up- Ow!” He rubbed at the same spot as before. “Thats starting to actually hurt, you know.”He grumbled.

Katara gave Aang a hushed apology and looked straight at Zuko. “I don’t care how friendly you are with everyone else.” Katara folded her arms. “I don’t trust you. Not one bit.” And with that, leaving Zuko dumbfounded, she walked outside. Aang sent him an awkward smile paired with a shrug, and followed Katara outside. 

Zuko looked at Toph for some sort of explanation, but she just shrugged. “I don’t know how you got on her bad side so quickly, but I think that’s a record.” 

Zuko just put his hand into his hands and groaned. What had he done to make her act like that towards him? Maybe he still looked grumpy from waking up so early? Maybe it was his scar? 

He rubbed at his temples. “I don’t even know what I-“ He stopped himself. There was only one reason as to _why_ Katara would act like that. Surely Sokka had told her about how much of a jerk he’d been. But Sokka deserved it, he was snooping around in his room!

_Your shared room,_ his mind supplied. _He was just unpacking his stuff- No! he was touching my clothes. That’s definitely snooping._

He was snapped out of his thoughts by someone sitting down at the table. Well it was more like falling, letting their head hit the table with a large thud.

Zuko recognized the wolftail hairstyle with shaved sides, and those tanned, toned arms. 

Sokka let out a tired groan. “Man, I’m tired. I just couldn’t get comfortable last night.” He lifted his head to look up at Zuko, and his once droopy face turned into a glare. “I think your late night reading kept me up. You kept that lamp on for hours,”

Something bubbled up in Zuko’s stomach. “Me? Keep _you up?_ Thats funny,” He let out mock laughter. “Last time I checked, your snoring was louder than anything I’ve ever heard. Even my Uncle doesn’t snore that loud.”

Sokka mouth dropped open in surprise, but soon recovered. “My apologies, your _highness._ ” He feigned a posh accent. “Just tell me how I can be to more service of you!” 

Suddenly there was screech on the floor from a chair being moved. They turned their heads to Toph as she stood. “Bye dorks,” She said, waving to them as she walked outside. “Have fun flirting with each other.” 

Zuko snapped his head away, and looked back at the other boy. Instead of saying anything else, Sokka stuck out his tongue and followed Toph outside. 

Zuko rolled his eyes, thinking of how childish Sokka was. And yet, grumbling, he stood to follow him outside.

——

When Sokka stepped outside, he hadn’t expected it to be _this_ hot. The combination of how warm his face felt when Toph suggested that he and Zuko had been flirting with the summer heat was not a good one. 

Already sweating in his blue polo, he headed over to where the gang was standing- underneath the shade of what seemed to be an outdoor arts and crafts area. 

“Goodmorning guys!” He put his hand on Katara’s shoulder, but after quickly deciding that it felt too sticky with sweat, he removed it. 

Katara wiped her hands on her shorts and turned to face him. “Sokka, its almost noon. Its far from morning.” She said teasingly, placing her hands on her hips.

“Come on Katara, you _know_ he needs his beauty sleep.” Toph cackled.

Sokka, feigning offense, mocked the position of someone who was about to faint. “Oh Toph, how could you say such a thing!”

“If it makes you feel better Sokka, I think you’re already quite beautiful.” Aang said, dramatically bowing before him.

While Sokka and his friends laughed, he felt a familiar presence from behind him. Turning, he saw that well known head of short brown hair.

He let out a gasp. “Suki!” He ran towards the girl, scooping her into a hug just as she turned around. 

Suki let out a snort before prying herself away from him. “Sokka, you are way too sweaty for hugs.”

“Oh but pretty lady, I could never resist giving a hug to the girl who I haven’t seen in over 4 months!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms up. Suki had been away on some random island for the past couple of months, training with her all-girl fencing team, the Kyoshi Warriors. 

“Hmm,” She hummed, doing an exaggerated glance over Sokka’s figure. “Except for your clinginess and excessive hand gestures, you have changed since I last saw you.” 

He flexed his arms. “I know, I know, no need to fawn over me. I should start doing lifting competitions with _these_ arms.”

Suki squeezed his flexed arm, mimicking high pitched giggles. 

Sokka walked her back towards where their friends were. Sweaty hugs were exchanged, and everything felt, well, good. But he couldn’t help the feeling that someone was missing.

——

Zuko was glad that he had stopped at the doors instead of fully stepping outside. He had a feeling that he would have been too out of place at the friendly interaction that he watched from afar. The meaningless banter made him smile, despite himself, but he knew he could never be caught up in the action.

Zuko watched Sokka run to a girl he didn’t recognize. She had short, brown hair and fair skin. Zuko could admit to himself that she was pretty- Very pretty, in fact. 

What he couldn’t admit to himself was the jealousy he felt dance in his gut as he watched Sokka scoop the girl up in his arms, and hug her tightly. They talked to each other animatedly, laughing and making jokes.

Surely, they were flirting.

It dawned on Zuko that he never thought that Sokka had a girlfriend- not that it mattered anyway. It’s not like he had a crush on him or anything- they were just.. friends? Frenemies?

Zuko mentally smacked himself. Frenemies? Come on, what was this, disney channel?

Snapping him out of his thoughts, a warm hand squeezed Zuko’s shoulder. “I see you are lost in thought, dear nephew.” Iroh furrowed his brows, his face showing obvious concern. “Is anything bothering you?”

He shook his head. “No, Uncle.”

Obviously picking up on Zuko’s want to change the subject, he did just that. “Well then, if you could alert your coworkers that they need to finish up the final preparations for the campers tomorrow, that would be very kind of you.”

Zuko knew it wasn’t a _requestM/em >, so he nodded his head. He took a deep breath and walked towards the group._

__

He was only a few feet away when Sokka noticed him, leading the others to turn their heads to him in suit.

__

“Uh, hi.” Zuko cleared his throat. “Uncle- I mean, Iroh said that we need to finish up the last of everything before tomorrow.” His eyes darted around the blank faces. “You know, for the kids.”

__

Toph suddenly smacked him hard on the shoulder. “No problem, Sparky! _Right_ guys?”

__

They all nodded, and the work ensued. On one of the many papers Iroh had posted outside, the groups of two they’d be paired up in for cleanup and other activities was amongst them. After some digging, done by Zuko, he found it.

__

He cleared his throat again. His throat wasn’t usually this dry, was it? “Okay, Toph you’re with Aang.” The younger boy gave him a thumbs up as Toph laughed and pinched his side. “Katara,” She let out a small grunt when he said her name. “You’re with Suki. Which leaves Sokka with..” He gulped. 

__

——

__

“..Me.”

__

Somehow, Sokka was _not_ surprised- everything seemed to be going the way he didn’t want it to since the beginning of summer. Why would he expect any different now?

__

Everyone paired up and went their separate ways. Sokka and Zuko’s job was to make sure the kayaks were in working order. You know, no holes or anything like that. There would also be some sweeping and picking up the trash on the docks, but that wasn’t their main concern. 

__

Sokka tapped his chin as he inspected a bright green kayak. “No holes!” He called back to Zuko, who was checking things off on a clipboard. He nodded his head.

__

Well, only a few more to go.

__

After the second to last brightly colored kayak had been checked, Sokka happily walked over to his last one. Then, he saw something small move around in the corner of the kayak. It seemed.. furry?

__

He couldn’t help but let his curiosity get the best of him, so he leaned over the dock to get a closer look. 

__

“Sokka? What are you-“

__

But before Zuko could finish his question, the furry thing _moved._ It made a loud screeching sound, surprising him. He found himself losing his balance, and with a splash, he was surrounded by the cold, murky water. 

__

Though the cool liquid hitting him face first was a shock, he actually found the water comforting, after being right under the sun almost all day. But then he heard Zuko calling his name, so he surfaced to the top of his cooling paradise.

__

The other boy let out a loud sigh of relief. “Agni, what were you thinking! You could have died, and then I would have had to explain to everyone how I let you die on my watch, then Uncle would probably get sued..” As Zuko rambled, Sokka eyed where he was standing. A few moments ago, he was a good couple of feet away from the edge of the dock. But now, he was right at the edge, kneeling down. One hand was running through his sweaty hair, and the other, hanging slack at his side.

__

Sokka tried to not let his plans show, but his mischievous smile gave it away.

__

“And then I’d.. Uh.. why are you-“ He acted fast, grabbing Zuko’s arm and pulling him in. 

__

The boy fell in with a louder splash than his, not sparing a second before coming up to the surface. Sokka cackled loudly, which caused him to swallow water in the process.

__

Zuko looked _mad._ But the look on his face when he was pulled into the murky water was worth any of Zuko’s wrath.

__

“What is wrong with you?” He said, spitting water out of his mouth. “Are you trying to kill me, too?”

__

Sokka tried to respond, but his gurgled laughter stopped him. He watched as Zuko’s frown turned into a smirk. 

__

This halted his “case of the giggles” (as Katara liked to say). While his mind tried to supply a reason as to why the other boy had suddenly taken on this look, his head was being dunked under the water. He quickly came back up and flailed his arms.

__

Now it was Zuko who was laughing. And _Spirits,_ was his laugh beautiful. 

__

_Wait, what?_

__

He spit a stream of water into the laughing boy’s face, not that it quieted him. “Why you little-“ Sokka started, splashing water at him.

__

This sparked a war; the two boys began splashing water at each other, each sending snarky remarks at the other.

__

Then the splashing stopped, and Sokka just.. stared at him. Zuko noticed his silence, so he stared back. Seeing something surprising on Sokka’s face, not that Sokka knew what it was, he quickly looked away.

__

“Well, we should probably get out of this water.” Zuko coughed into his fist. “Who knows whats in here?” 

__

Sokka nodded and pulled himself out of the water and back onto the dock. He then grabbed Zuko’s hands and helped to pull him out.

__

He wrung out his shirt, trying to squeeze out excess water. “Well, I guess we should finish up here.” Just as Sokka was about to walk away, Zuko grabbed his wrist.

__

“Wait.” Sokka turned on his feel so that he was facing him. “I just.. I had fun. Today, I mean.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

__

Sokka felt himself smile. “Yeah, me too man.”

__

“That’s not it.” Zuko glanced down at the ground. “At the end of the week, all activities end early so that the kids can call their parents. Nobody is at the lake at night, and since we’d have the rest of the day off..”

__

Just as Sokka was about to accept Zuko’s offer of a late night swim, he saw Toph and Suki approaching out of the corner of his eye. 

__

Suki looked them both up and down, noticing their drenched clothes. “Did you guys go for a swim or something?”

__

“I guess you could say that?” Sokka said, shrugging.

__

It was late afternoon by the time they got back to the cabin. On their walk back, Zuko had let out a few sarcastic remarks, but for the most part, he stayed quieter than usual. 

__

Sokka couldn’t help but wonder.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats right folks, miscommunication coming up!  
> im trying to write their personalities correctly, but tell me if its off !! also ik katara is kind of a jerk right now, but shes just a bit protective of sokka :3 my sweet girl!! she’ll lighten up soon


	3. Wolfcat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a math test today and i thought i was gonna fail bc i just kept thinking about writing this ;( galdy i didnt but im trying not to rush anything but i have no self control. HOLDIN OUT!! also yes, switching perspectives again because its quite fun

Sokka woke with a start, feeling like he was late for something. He heard his bones crack as he stretched, still not shaking the anxious feeling from him.

He felt someone watching him, so he turned his head to Zuko's bed. And sure enough, the other boy was sitting there, fully dressed and staring at him dumbly. Sokka glanced down at his phone and the time read 7:50 A.M.

He jumped out of bed, running a hand through his tousled hair. He only had _10 minutes_ before campers would arrive. "Dude!" Zuko snapped his head to Sokka's face, looking surprised. "I can't believe slept through all seven of my alarms. Why didn't you wake me up?" Sokka quickly stripped out of the clothes he slept in, not noticing the other boy's cheeks being dusted with pink.

"You didn't sleep through your alarms," Zuko sighed. "I turned them off."

Sokka paused his feverish dressing sequence. He looked at his roommate in shock, mouth gaping, and eyebrows raised. " _What? Why?_ "

The other boy shrugged. "After you slept through the first three, I shut them all down. They obviously weren't going to wake you up,"

"Man, there is a _reason_ that there are seven alarms," He felt like pulling his hair out- he needed to make a good impression, to show that he could be serious about working. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. All of this was too much for tired brain.

Then Sokka felt a thin, but warm, hand on his shoulder. He picked his head up to make eye contact with Zuko. "Look," Usually he was easy to read, but Sokka couldn't make out the meaning of the expression on Zuko's face. "I'm sorry for not waking you up. You just looked- Uh," The neutral facade he was holding dropped, now replaced with an almost sheepish expression. 

Sokka could tell that he was struggling, so he decided to be merciful. "It's alright, buddy, I forgive you." Even though that last part was soaked in his trademark sarcasm, he still wanted Zuko to know that he actually meant it, so he put a gentle hand on top of his. 

The other boy rolled his eyes, pulling his hand away. He took a quick glance at the watch on his wrist. "Thanks for the forgiveness, but you have 3 minutes to finish up and come outside." Zuko smirked and ruffled Sokka's hair, making it even messier than before. He walked away from him, only to stop in the doorway. 

"You know.. I like your hair down." 

Sokka watched him walk down the hall, feeling his face burn. Zuko liked his hair down? Was that supposed to be a joke or something?

Sadly, he didn't have time to think too hard on it, because now he had to really rush.

\--

Zuko cradled his own face in his hands, trying to comfort himself. He just told _Sokka_ that he liked his hair down. It was one of those things that just slipped out of mouth before his brain could smack him, telling him it was a dumb thing to think-even dumber thing to say. He suddenly became extremely nervous, thinking of _What ifs_. What if the next time Sokka did something cute or was just Sokka, he acted without thinking? He couldn't be saying or doing anything like that- He had a girlfriend for Agni's sake. Zuko and Sokka just became actual friends (they _were friends_ , right?) and he couldn't just mess it up by making him uncomfortable.

A small hand slapped his back, hard. Even after almost two summers of working with Toph, he didn't think he was ever going to get used to the way she showed her 'affection'.

"Sunshine, I can hear you overthinking." She said pointedly. 

Zuko just squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples. "No, I'm fine. Just got," He exhaled slowly, trying to calm his heart rate. Sometimes Zuko felt like she could feel what he was thinking- which probably wasn't completely off. "..Lost in my thoughts."

Instead of questioning him, Toph shrugged. "If you say so."

She grabbed his arm as he lead her outside. The campers would be arriving soon, and they needed to be ready for the chaos that would ensue.

Well, maybe with six people working instead of two, it wouldn't be as chaotic as usual.

Soon enough, the cars holding weirdly sentimental parents and tired children pulled up to the camp. Sokka ran outside by the time the 5th car came around, which he was obviously worrying about, but Suki reassured him with sweet words and the squeeze of his hand.

Zuko forced himself to look away. He needed to focus on getting bags and kids into their respective cabins and rooms. But every time there was a ten-minute gap where there were no cars to unload, his mind couldn't help but wander.

Thinking about how Sokka looked when he was fresh from sleep, hair messy and eyes tired. Thinking about how he looked taking off his shirt, rushing to do it like his life depended on it. Thinking about what it would be like to be tangled up with him under the sheets-

"Hey, Zuko!" Aang's voice pulled him back into reality. "I'm gonna go with Katara and Toph to help the kids settle in. You alright out here with them?" He said, throwing a thumb towards Sokka and Suki, who were laughing with each other.

Before he could stop himself, his face dropped for a mere second, but Aang was too quick. The younger boy shot him a concerned look, but Zuko just sent him two thumbs up, trying to smile. It must have been better than nothing; Aang just sent him one last side-eye, then turned on his heel and walked off.

Zuko prepared himself to be left alone with the two love birds. He could hardly bear it when the whole group was together, but now that it was just him third-wheeling, he found himself with a deeper frown than usual. This and his attitude did not go over well with the last few parents dropping off their kids, and to be honest, he didn't blame them. 

Gladly, Sokka always interjected when it was obvious that an argument was about to be ignited between Zuko and said parent. He would slap on a big customer service smile and smooth things over, making things better in the long run for everyone.

The first day would be dedicated to getting the kids settled; they would leave the main activities for tomorrow. Although, there was a large campfire paired with roasting marshmallows that was always held at the end of the first day. Zuko relented all of this and more information to Sokka, who was confused as to why there was nothing fun for anyone to do.

He wanted to avoid the other boy, he really did. But it was hard to avoid him when all Zuko felt was being pulled towards him. He decided around the middle of the day that he couldn't just ignore the guy because of some strange, petty feelings he was harboring. Plus, talking with Sokka made him happy- well, most definitely _not_ in that super cheesy way. Just in the way that Sokka's smile made him want to smile so much it made his cheeks hurt, the jokes and sarcastic remarks he made, and not to mention the way he handled 5th graders, which were a nightmare. A couple of times almost every summer he worked at the camp, he found himself wanting to punt literal ten-year-olds. 

Every time one of the kids would say something or do something utterly obnoxious, Sokka would whisper a snarky remark in Zuko's ear. Not only did the boy's hot breath on his neck send shivers down his spine, but it actually made him let out a breathy chuckle. 

When darkness finally settled over the sky, everyone gathered around the campfire. Aang and Toph were the ones to bring out the many bags of marshmallows,along with graham crackers and chocolate.

Only about 10 out of the 20 campers sat out this year- preferring to stay in their cabins, away from the noise and the bugs. Zuko couldn't blame them- he would sit out too if he could.

He watched Sokka make excessive hand gestures as he told a "scary story", which didn't seem _scary_ to Zuko at all.

"..Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark." He made a dramatic _Oohing_ sound, which made some of the kids giggle. "it came into the torchlight.. and they knew the blade of Wing Fung was haunted" He jumped up, pretending to swing around an imaginary sword. 

"I think I like 'The man for a sword with a hand' better." Aang said, looking very unimpressed.

Toph folded her arms. "Slumber parties on the Rez must stink."

Zuko allowed a small smirk to play on his lips. Sokka noticed this, putting his hands on his hips. "You got something to say, Hotshot?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "I never said anything," 

"It's written all over your face!" The other boy let out a huff and stuck out a finger at Zuko accusingly. "Besides, do _you_ have any better stories?"

The truth was, no not really. He could probably conjure up one of his childhood memories, change the names around a bit, and he'd have himself a horror story. But he didn't know if that would really fit the atmosphere.

Katara cut in. "I've got one! And it's actually a true story from our tribe."

Everyone turned their heads towards her. She gingerly positioned herself so that she was resting her elbows on her knees. 

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Is this one of those, 'a friend of my dad's friend's dog knew some guy that this happened to' stories?"

"No," Katara shook her head. "It happened to Mom."

The boy visibly stiffened at this, his mouth going tight lipped and flat. Aang sat up straight, listening intently. 

Katara took a deep breath, settling a hush over the group around the campfire. 

"One winter when my Mom was a girl, a snowstorn buried the whole village for weeks," She looked around, making sure everyone was listening. "A month later, Mom noticed she hadn't seen her friend, Nini, since the storm. So Mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was the home."

Sokka opened his mouth in shock. Zuko almost laughed at his expression, but he didn't want to interupt the girl that had quite literally told him that he was on thin ice.

"Just a fire flickering in the fire place," She waved a hand around over the fire. "While the men went out to search, Mom stayed in the house. When she was finally alone, she heard a voice."

Katara started to rub her shoulders, making a shaking motion. "It's so cold and I can't get warm!"

From the look on the boy next to him's face, Zuko thought Sokka was going piss his pants. He instinctivly clutched to Zuko's arm, leading to Zuko failing at hiding his blush.

"Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue, almost as if she were frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone."

Aang put his hands over his face in fear. Suki, who was seated between him and toph, pulled her legs up to her chest. 

Sokka buried his head into Zuko's shoulder, squeezing his eyes tight. After a few moments of defeaning silence, he picked up his head. "Where did she go?"

"No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day, but sometimes," Katara slid her eyes to the smoke rising out of the fire. "People see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm.."

Zuko found himself actually getting spooked, so he allowed himself to cling to Sokka. He could just blame it on being scared, anyway. 

He watched Toph cup a hand around her ear, obviously listening for something. "Wait, do you guys hear that?"

Everyone clutches the person next to them tighly, even Katara. "I hear someone coming."

The boy next to him straightened up. He let out a small chuckle. "Pft! Nice try, Toph."

Toph shook her head. "No, I'm serious. I hear something."

"You're probably just jumpy from hearing ghost stories." Katara said, nervously laughing.

"It stopped." 

They sat in silence, waiting. No one could tell if the shorter girl was just messing with them or not.

There was a snap of a twig breaking, and Zuko let out a gasp. Everyone whipped their heads to see the souce of the noise.

Uncle Iroh, chuckling, was holding a cup of hot tea. "Hello, children." He scanned his eyes over the group, seeing everyone's frightened faces. He raised a brow in curiosity. "I hope I didn't scare you. I just came out here to take the campers back to their cabins,"

The kids let out many _Aw's,_ disappointed by the interruption. Since they had no other choice, they headed back with Iroh towards the cabins.

\--

Sokka regretfully removed himself from Zuko's side. He wanted to stay next to the warm boy for a little longer, but he _had_ to stretch. 

He stood up, avoiding Zuko's stare. "Well, I think it's time we turn in too." 

They nodded in agreement. Katara and Aang headed back first, and soon after, Suki and Toph followed. 

Then it was just the two of them, left to clean up and put out the fire.

While Zuko put out the fire, Sokka picked up wrappers and the littered burnt marshmallows. Once they finished, the two boys started on their walk back to the cabin, with Zuko trailing behind Sokka.

When he noticed that he wasn't hearing the other boy's footsteps anymore, he turned around.

Zuko wasn't there.

Sokka's heart rate immediately skyrocketed. 

"Zuko? Hey buddy, this isn't funny." He spoke out into the dark woods surrounding the clear path. When he heard a leaf being crunched on the ground, he paused. "..Zuko?"

Then, without warning, a figure knocked into him, almost tackling him to the ground. 

He shrieked in fear, preparing himself for a fight that he wasn't sure he'd win. 

Instead of someone muttering about the ways they were going to kill him, the figure laughed. Sokka quickly recognized Zuko's mop of dark hair and sharp laughter.

He clutched his hand to his chest. "Dude! Are you serious right now?"

"I just couldn't resist," The other boy wheezed, his hair falling into his face.

Sokka expected his heart to calm down, now that he was sure that he wasn't in danger, but watching Zuko's face crinkle with amusement, it beat just as fast as before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! :3 i hope yall are looking forward to the ~late night swim~ after their first week of doing counseling shit


	4. Arts and Crafts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally read all of my other chapters and found so many mistakes UGHHH heartbreak brrr ill go back and fix shit. ALSSSOOO yes a camper has a crush on sokka LOL havent we all had a crush on a camp counselor (but no weird shit happens its innocent i swear PLz)

It was only the middle of the week and Zuko was surprising _not_ burnt out. 

Today was sunny with no clouds, which sucked ass, but the shade from the outdoor arts and crafts area gave Zuko a minor escape from the heat. Katara was on crafts duty with him today, but since they were caught up in doing their actual jobs, she hadn't had the chance to throw him any distasteful words about how he was untrustworthy.

Zuko walked up behind a small boy with short black hair and peeked over his shoulder.

The kid must have realized that Zuko was standing behind him, because he shyly asked (without turning around), "Wanna see what I'm drawing?"

He gave a small nod. "Sure," He wanted to seem more interested, but he was honestly too tired to care.

The small boy turned around and held up a not-extremely-terrible drawing, letting Zuko's eyes trail over the scribble of a person he was looking at. He noticed a messy cursive of the name _Lee_ at the bottom of the paper.

Brown skin, blue eyes, hair in what seemed to be a ponytail...

Wait.

"Is that.. Sokka?"

Lee's face proceeded to turn bright red, so Zuko assumed he had guessed correctly.

He noticed the small red hearts drawn around Sokka's face, causing Zuko to groan internally. A camper having a crush on one of the counselors was not new- when he was 17 and had just started to grow his hair out, some of the girls would giggle when he walked by. He even got some love letters left outside his door, which he _immediately_ threw away.

"Not to burst your bubble or anything," Zuko tried to send him a sympathetic look, but he's sure it turned out like a grimace. "But I don't really think you've got a chance. Not only are you like 11, but he's got a-"

Zuko was interrupted by a smack on his arm. "Zuko!" Katara widened her eyes, motioning for him to be quiet.

Katara asked Lee if she could see his drawing, and he did so sheepishly, obviously thinking he was in trouble.

Katara looked over the drawing and sent Lee a small smile. "Would you mind if I gave this to Sokka? I'm sure he'd love it,"

Zuko couldn't help but stare at her, and he stopped himself from gaping. Before he could protest, she made her hand into a zipping motion over her mouth, yet again telling him to shut up.

The small boy looked down at his hands. "I don't know.."

"That's okay. Here," Katara handed back the piece of paper and walked away to monitor another group of kids.

Zuko sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

Lee just shrugged and tucked his paper into the pocket of his jean shorts. "It's cool, I guess,"

He was a little confused about how the kid managed to switch so quickly from embarrassed to so nonchalant. Then he realized it reminded him of himself, and he felt weirdly.. odd.

After a few seconds of silence, Lee spoke up again. "Plus, if my dad ever found out, he'd like definitely kill me."

Before he could process his own response, he said, "Yeah, me too kid."

Zuko watched the small boy's eyes go wide, and he felt like a dumbass. Count on him to let personal information slip to a _camper_.

"So.. you like boys too?"

Oh _Spirits_ , this was so awkward. Was he really having this conversation in the middle of arts and crafts?

Zuko rubbed at his temples and sighed. "I guess you could say that."

Lee looked absolutely _ecstatic_. It made him feel even more awkward than before, but also oddly sad. Well, it _was_ his job to counsel, Zuko supposed. If this kid needed some emotional support, then morally, he was obligated.

When the sun started to set, the day officially ended for him. With all the extra help they had this year, it wasn't as stressful as his previous times working at the camp.

Well, it wasn't very stressful if you excused the stress Zuko felt trying to come up for a response to Sokka's dumb comebacks. Or how he felt like his heart was going to explode when he heard Sokka laugh.

Instead of addressing this _growing_ issue, he pushed it down and walked towards his room. Zuko knew Sokka wouldn't be there until later, since he liked to squeeze every drop of a conversation out of anyone he could before he went to bed. 

That was definitely an exaggeration, but sometimes it felt that way.

Zuko grabbed his clothes and swiftly walked to the bathroom. He did _not_ need a repeat of the last time he took a shower and didn't change in the bathroom. 

As he turned on the water, he played that moment over in his mind. Zuko remembered the way Sokka had looked him over, and how he felt so... _shy_ under his gaze. 

Zuko stepped into the shower, feeling the hot water run over his body. If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could imagine that the other boy was there with him; grasping Zuko's shoulders, whispering sweet words of praise as his hands traveled lower-

_No. No way._ He tried not to bang his head on the fucking wall. Instead, he pinched himself as hard as he could. Did he really just think about that right now? Not even right now; why did he think about that at _all_. Zuko wasn't blind (at least, not fully), he knew that Sokka was attractive. But there's no way that Zuko would...

Scrap that. There's no way that _Sokka_ would ever feel that way. He had a whole girlfriend for crying out loud. Zuko kept trying to remind himself of that fact, but it always seemed to slip his mind.

He stepped out of the shower and into the steam-filled room. As Zuko dressed himself, he remembered why he preferred getting dressed in his room. His clothes stuck to his skin, and he couldn't even put his socks on without cringing. 

When he entered his _shared_ room, he saw Sokka hunched over on Zuko's bed. When the other boy noticed him standing in the doorway, he jumped to his feet. Suddenly, all the thought he had earlier flooded into his mind. His face then proceeded to feel _very_ hot.

Sokka looked at him curiously. "Um, buddy? Are you good?"

"Oh, uh, yeah.. I'm fine." His face got even hotter when he heard his voice raise an octave 

Zuko decided to ignore it, though, when he saw what Sokka was holding. "Is that my book?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but a bit of annoyance still leaked in. 

The other boy put his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey, before you chew me out for _snooping_ ," He put emphasis on 'snooping', which led Zuko to remember their first encounter that had only happened a few days before- a shitty one, in fact. "You were in the shower for a while so I got bored! You never read me any of the poems in this thing, so I thought, you know," Sokka shrugged and looked to the floor.

Zuko shook his head and held out his hand. "I'll tell you my favorite one sometime tomorrow _if_ you give me my shit back."

He watched Sokka's eyes and felt like he was watching the wheels turn in his head; once he had realized that Zuko was being somewhat playful, he grinned and placed the book in Zuko's outstretched hand. Sokka paused, with a hand hovering the object of interest.

He smirked. "You promise to read me your favorite one? All Romeo and Juliet style?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You want me to profess my love for you or something?"

Man, he was not doing well with this whole letting-things-slip thing.

Sokka hesitated for only a second, and if his eyes hadn't been trained on the other boy he would have missed it.

He chuckled and met Zuko's eyes. "Yeah, sure buddy."

This whole interaction was doing _awful_ things for Zuko's gut. He pulled the book to his chest and tried to find something else to stare at.

He coughed into his fist. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed."

Sokka eyed him, and he looked like he was trying to solve a very hard math problem. Instead of saying anything more, he nodded his head and walked to his bed.

As Zuko drifted off to sleep, he knew that he would dream of that same terrifying heat against the side of his face. Though just before he could scream in agony from the pain, warm arms would circle around his waist, and he would be _safe._


	5. Late Night Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! sorry its taken me FOREVER to update. ive been putting off writing a new chapter because i wanted it to display all the shit i wanted!! also expect up to about 10 chapters at the most, 8 at the least- i wanna draw this out, but not too much, ya feel me ;p also my computer keyboard is broken atm so im using my phone!! if there are any mistakes, ill try to go back and fix em

Sokka’s day wasn’t as busy as he expected it to be- well, mainly because he’d kind of forgotten about the fact that the activities ended early so that the campers could email and/or call their parents (and probably give the counselors a break too). It wasn’t until the bright orange sticky note on his bedside table caught his eye that he remembered Zuko’s sheepish invite to go swimming at the lake. 

Sokka suddenly felt _very_ nervous. But why? Just two dudes going for a late night swim, doing friend stuff!

Two dudes doing friend stuff. 

Alone.

At night. With nobody else around.

He held his breath and rushed to think about something else. 

Sokka decided to think about Suki. He wondered about if she liked rooming with Toph. Then he thought about how their room was at the other end of the hall. Would it be a good idea to rush to her room after this platonic-friend-hangout with Zuko and spill? Suki always _loved_ that type of stuff. But was there anything to even spill?

After about 10 minutes of his internal rambling, Sokka decided to rummage through his unfolded clothes that were messily laid about in his dresser. He ended finding a well loved pair of brightly colored swim trunks, and quickly slipped them on. As Sokka was about to walk down the hallway, he weighed his options. He could not tell Katara that he was somewhat leaving for a few hours, which could possibly lead to her strangling him. _Or_ he could tell her that he was leaving, which would definitely lead to her telling him that it’s dangerous or something.

Yeah, he was going with the first one.

As Sokka walked down the short and familiar trail, he remembered all those times when Katara had caught him sneaking out his sophomore year of high school. Most of the time, she ended up covering for him so that their Dad wouldn’t find out. She would always give him her own lecture, though. _Then_ he remembered the time Katara snuck out when she was 14, and he let out a breathy laugh. At the time, he was stressed and kinda worried (okay, a lot worried), but now he was able to think about it with fondness.

Sokka approached the dock that he had fallen off of not so long ago, and saw a familiar figure sitting in a position so that he couldn't see his face.

“Boo!” He put both hands on Zuko’s shoulders, making him flinch.

The other boy gave him an unimpressed look. “Sokka,” He was obviously annoyed, but a hint of amusement was detectable by the way he drew out Sokka’s name. “And to think I was going to read you poetry,” 

Sokka stuck an accusatory finger at Zuko’s chest. “Hey, you can call that payback for you scaring the shit out of me after the bonfire!”

Zuko sputtered. “Payback? You pulled me into the lake!”

Sokka was about to fire back with a remark that probably wouldn’t make any sense when he remembered the book in the other boy’s lap. He decided to swallow his pride, sitting down next to Zuko. 

—

Sokka blinked at him with expectant eyes. When Zuko simply stared back, he motioned with his hand to the book in his lap.

“Oh, right.”

He coughed dramatically in the way that he knew would make the guy smile, which proved to be effective.

“Thinking about you,

I slept and saw you

In the dream.”

Zuko’s face started to feel hot, and he hadn’t even finished reading the first one. He took in a deep breath and tried to cool himself down.

“If I had known it’d have been dream,

I wouldn’t have woken up.”

Sokka snapped his fingers like they did in those slam poetry videos he watched as a kid. Zuko just gave a effortless shove to the other boy’s shoulder in response. 

He read off a few more lines of other poems, then Sokka started to slip off his shirt. When Zuko looked at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes and motioned to the water. 

An embarrassed _oh_ escaped from his mouth. He then decided to follow Sokka’s lead and started to strip, leaving his shorts of course, unaware of the other boy’s eyes on him.

After standing in silence for a few moments, Zuko plunged himself into the water. He tried his best not to yelp from the cold. Sure, it was as hot as balls this summer, but sadly that didn't make the water any warmer.

He came up for air, shaking his wet mop of hair out of his face. Sokka grinned and made a loud whooping sound, making an attempt at a cannonball into the water. 

He came up and laughed, spitting water out of his mouth. “Man, that’s cold! I thought it would be warmer.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “I could have told you that, if you had waited,”

Instead of responding, Sokka splashed the area next to him. He didn’t feel the need to splash him back, since the water hadn’t hit his face. 

A few minutes of silence passed. The moon was almost full, showering them in just enough light to see each other. Zuko watched as the other boy swam circles around him, giggling, which lead him to choke on water in the process. 

When Sokka was able to finally speak without making gurgling noises, Zuko tried his best to pay attention. He knew it was stupid, to be caught on someone’s every last word. But he loved how Sokka’s voice sounded, and how nice it felt when his words were being directed at him.

“I just realized you read me love poems,”

Okay, never mind, he did not love Sokka’s words or his voice. If he wasn’t focused on staying afloat, he would have probably gone as stiff as a board.

He tried to sound as casual as possible. “Uh yeah, there are a lot of love poems in that book.”

That wasn’t a complete lie- there _were_ plenty of love poems in the book he read from. There were also many ones about friendship and war that he skipped over, but telling the full truth wouldn't do amazing things for him, would it?

Sokka just hummed in response. Zuko realized now that they were now _very_ close, so much so that he could feel Sokka’s legs hitting him as he swam every so often. 

Then swim time was decidedly over, and they both sat, soaked, on the dock. Sokka’s head was comfortably laying on Zuko’s lap, sometimes switching positions from his side to his back. He tried not to focus on the features of his very pretty face, and how his hair stuck to his forehead while wet.

“You know,” Sokka sat up, cracking his knuckles. “I don’t really know too much about you.”

Zuko leaned forward on his hands. “You know enough,”

Sokka chuckled. “Wow, thats ominous. Come on Mr. Mysterious, what are you hiding!” 

Zuko just shook his head, making the other boy let out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay, let’s start with an easy one: Favorite animal?”

He decided to give in to Sokka’s questions. This seemed to be pretty surface level, not too deep for his liking.

“Ducks?” 

“You made that sound more like a question than an answer,” Sokka poked Zuko’s unscarred cheek. “Personally, I like Hawks, they’re some pretty cool birds.”

After answering the fired off questions, one dipped a little too far into the ocean of “too personal” questions. 

“Got any siblings?”

Who knew a simple question like that could be so.. loaded?

Zuko closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he exhaled, he met Sokka’s eyes. “Yes, I have a sister, Azula. Younger, too. She’s, uh..” He played with the hem of his damp shorts. “She’s in the psych ward, so I haven’t.. seen her, in a while.” 

Zuko technically hadn’t seen Azula in a little over 6 months. It’s not like he _forgot_ , per say, but he just _avoided_ it. And it wasn’t like she was getting worse, in fact, she was getting better. She would be discharged within the next year or two. But when he visited, he was reminded that _he_ was the one that put her there.

Sokka’s eyebrows pinched up into a concerned look. “Oh man, that sucks.” His fingers danced their way over to a strand of Zuko’s hair, slightly pulling. “Since we’re kinda trading sucky information right now, I guess I can go next?” 

Agni, why did Zuko overshare? He didn’t want Sokka to feel obligated to share his darkest moments in life just because Zuko said dumb stuff about his sister.

Though, he didn’t protest. It’s not like he _didn’t_ want to know something like that about Sokka’s life. So, he sat up straight and turned to face the other boy fully.

“Well, uh, when I was a sophomore in high school,” Sokka rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at the shaved hair near his neck. “I was in love with this girl, Yue. She was my first girlfriend ever,” Zuko watched him inhale that same shaky breath that he had taken himself only moments before. “But she was sick. She _had_ been sick, like, her whole life. She sort of died that year,” He stopped himself, shaking his head. “No, not sort of. She did die that year, but I think that she watches over me.. you know?”

Zuko didn’t really know what to say. So, he patted Sokka’s shoulder, deciding to then grip it tight. 

“That’s rough, buddy.”

Instead of crying or yelling at him for sayin something so lame in response to opening up about the death of somebody’s girlfriend, Sokka threw his head back in laughter. 

When he finished laughing, he wiped his eyes and looked at Zuko’s dumbstruck face. “Dude, she would have loved that. She would have loved _you_.”

Zuko shook his head and let his head fall into his hands. “I think she might want to haunt me now, actually.”

They walked back to the cabin around 1 A.M., hands brushing along the way. The walk was filled with a comfortable and warm silence, and so was their room when they somehow managed to sneak back in undetected. 

The room was completely dark when Zuko decided to speak up. 

“Hey Sokka?”

He got a grunt in response.

“Just so you know, one of the campers has a crush on you. It’s that kid, Lee, with the short black hair and paint on his shoes?”

He heard Sokka let out a small, sleepy laugh. “Aw man, I don’t know what to tell him.”

Zuko rolled his eyes in the darkness, but he had a feeling Sokka could see it. “Yeah, you don’t even like dudes," He tried to laugh, but it sounded empty and fake. "Even more awkward, right?”

It was silent for a few moments before Sokka laughed, again, more awake this time. “I can say that I am _definitely not_ into middle schoolers. But that doesn’t rule out dudes entirely, just the ones that are minors.”

Zuko held his breath. Sokka liked guys?

He let out a small _oh_ , same as the one at the lake, running a hand through his hair.

“Sorry for assuming.”

“It’s not a big deal, I’ve only talked to you about girls anyway. I just.. thought you’d be able to tell.”

Zuko didn’t respond after that, and once he heard Sokka’s soft snoring, he decided it was safe enough to breathe. 

How was he going to survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KEEP writing from Zuko’s perspective but i dont know he’s just so fun to write😭😭😭some of yall we’re probably hoping for a kiss this chapter, but nope ;) good things come to those who wait


	6. Moms Be Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> katara’s (kind of) chapter! my best girl :’) ill be writing more tomorrow im just tired😢😢

It was only 4 o’clock in the morning, and Zuko was already freaking out. He didn’t even know _why_ he was freaking out. Well, not exactly freaking-freaking out, but there was definitely some freaking going on. And he was lying when he said that he didn’t know why he was freaking out. In fact there are three huge, enormous reasons. 

One, Sokka liked guys too.

Two, he wanted to kiss Sokka so bad it made him feel nauseous.

Three, he could never act out reason number two because Sokka still had an awesome girlfriend, and Zuko wasn’t really a home-wrecker. Then, he thought back to Azula’s ‘Uncle-Iroh-Moment’, as she called it, in which she stated in her usual icy tone, “Just because there’s a goalie, doesn’t mean you can’t score.” _Then_ , he remembered that he should never take advice from Azula.

Zuko was really hoping that this whole feelings thing would pass. Besides, just because Sokka happened to like guys, didn’t mean that one of the guys he liked was Zuko. 

For the first time in longer than it should have been, he missed Mai. She would probably roll her eyes and tell him to suck it up, but it would be comforting all the same.

After groaning into his pillow for 30 minutes as he tried to ignore on the sound of Sokka’s snoring slash breathing, he decided that he just needed to.. cool off. Maybe he should run a few laps around the camp, then shower?

Zuko suddenly remembered that he was currently running on three hours of sleep, and probably wouldn’t be able to run multiple, consistent laps. He settled for a walk to help clear his head, then he would face the fuck-shit his brain decided to entertain itself with. 

He slipped on his mismatched flip-flops as quietly as he could, though he knew no amount of noise would wake the sleeping boy less than 10 feet away from  
his slumber. 

While walking down the still-dark hallway, Zuko was extremely conscious of the squeaking sound his flip-flops made as they hit the ground. Cringing, he did his best to shuffle long enough to be out of reach of the _sensitive_ ears of Toph. 

Zuko couldn’t help but sigh as the cool air hut his face. The sun hadn’t yet touched the sky, allowing him to embrace the momentary relief from the thick, sticky air. Though, after not even walking for more than 5 minutes, Zuko heard the sounds of leaves crunching under someones steps. He began to wonder if Sokka had somehow woken up and followed him outside, trying again to give Zuko “payback” for scaring him in the woods. 

If it was him, it seemed like it would be better to humor him, Zuko guessed. “Hello?” 

The footsteps stopped, leading to Zuko preparing himself for the poorly executed jumpscare. Instead he was met with sniffling, and a familiar, unsure voice speaking to him.

“Sokka.. Is that.. you?”

He whipped his head around to see (at least, see as much as he could in the dark) a red faced Katara. She held her arms around herself like a self-soothing hug. She meets his eyes and turns her once extremely upset look into a glare. 

“Oh. It’s just you,”

Zuko tries to ignore the heavy feeling in his gut, so he decides to cover it up with distaste instead, returning her glare. “Yeah, it’s just me. Sorry to disappoint,” He said, rolling his eyes.

Katara held herself tighter. “You don’t seem to care about anyone but yourself, you know that?” She spat, though he could still hear the wobble in her words. “I’m crying about my dead mom in the _woods_ at who knows what time, and you don’t even ask if I’m okay?”

Zuko felt like he was walking a thin line, thinner than he had been before. If he said the wrong thing, she’d hate him probably forever. But if he said nothing, it would be the same result.

Zuko inhaled deeply. He really wasn’t expecting to be discussing absent moms this early. “I.. know how you feel. About crying over the dead mom thing, that is. I lost my mom, too.”

Now, she was close enough so that he could see her face go through an array of different emotions. 

Katara sighed. “I’m sorry for yelling. I’m just.. frustrated, right now. Back at home, I can usually climb out my window and get on the roof to calm down, but I don’t really know what to do right now.”

Zuko shifted uncomfortably. He really wasn’t.. _used_ to comforting people. 

He noticed, now, that she was staring at him. He immediately lifted his hand to his scar, looking away. 

Katara walked closer to him, with her once angry expression now a look of sympathy. “I’d heal it all up for you, if I could.”

Zuko snorted. He _knew_ that this omnipresent reminder of his Father’s wrath would always mark his face, but the idea of fiery, mom-friend Katara offering to heal his face made him feel giggly. She obviously felt this way, too, laughing along with him.

“I think Aang mentioned that you wanted to go to med school. You’d be a good doctor, I think.” 

Katara smiled, and it was softer than Sokka’s, but it was definitely a smile that ran in the family. “I like helping people. But I’m still figuring it out,” She shrugged.

Zuko attempted to let himself smile. “At least you kind of know what you want to do? I’m like, 2 years older than you and I _still_ don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

Katara smirked. “You’re an Aries, aren’t you?”

He tried to hide the need to dramatically let his mouth fall open. “How did you read me like that?”

She winked, mocking Sokka’s finger guns. “What can I say? I’m a Pices with Cancer placements,”

Zuko shook his head, then watched Katara stare at him with a pointedly curious look. 

“You know, I usually don’t meet many guys who are into astrology. Of course, there’s Aang, and also my brother because he’s Sokka.”

Zuko sighed, no longer feeling like answering anymore probing questions. “Speaking of Sokka, I’d better be getting back to our room soon.”

Katara pressed her lips into a thin line, putting her hands behind her back. “Before you leave.. how _is_ Sokka?” 

The way she asked it made his skin crawl. Zuko shivered, suddenly feeling like he was the mouse being hunted by Scar in the beginning of ‘Lion King’. “Uh, Sokka is, er, fine?”

Katara nodded, but obviously not satisfied with his answer. Though, she could sense his discomfort, so she shoo’d him away.

“Okay, okay, you can go now. I still want some time to think,”

As Zuko walked back down the hallway, now over an hour later than when he had left, he let his flip-flops slap the ground without a care.

—-

Sokka awoke to an empty room, feeling a little.. uneasy. Had something monumental happened while he was sleeping?

He started stretching and cracking his long limbs as Zuko shuffled into the room, full dressed, to Sokka’s distaste.

Then, he was sudd hit with all of the memories of last night. Zuko reading him love poems, swimming together, and him confessing to Zuko who was somehow oblivious to the fact that Sokka liked dudes.

_Spirits, save me now._

He sighed. Suki would tell him that it would be best to just talk to him, thoroughly, about their feelings and all that stuff. 

Probably.

Sokka cleared his throat, making Zuko look up to meet his eyes.

“Buddy, I just wanted to, you know, talk about last night-“

Zuko clasped his hands together. “I don’t know what you mean. Nothing happened.”

Sokka felt his mouth open and close like a fish, filled with confusion.

Nothing happened last night? Did that mean that Zuko just saw it as a bro-hangout and nothing more? Did _Sokka_ see it as something more? Did Zuko think that he was weird now? Why was this so distressing?

Before Sokka could speak again, Zuko rushes out of the room, nodding to him a sign of recognition as he left.

He decided to let Zuko have his (somewhat) alone time, since, to be honest, he needed that 20 minute shower to think, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when u bond with ur crush’s sister over having mommy issues😍😜 ALSO sorry for taking forever to update, school is time consuming

**Author's Note:**

> damn writing slowburn is hard, but aye, ill try my best for u guys mwah


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